2143: Ruling on dealing
in bonds

What is the ruling on dealing in bonds
that produce fixed returns?

Praise be to Allaah.

A bond is a certificate which, according to its terms, obliges the
issuer to pay the bearer the face value plus the agreed amount of interest when it reaches
maturity, or to pay other benefits, such as prizes awarded by drawing lots, or payment of
a fixed amount, or any discaunt.

The Islamic Fiqh Council has researched the matter of dealing in bonds
and issued the following statement:

Bonds which represent a commitment to pay the face value plus interest,
or conditional benefits, are haraam according to sharee’ah, whether one is buying,
selling or handling them, because they are considered to be interest-based loans. This
applies whether they are issued by private companies or by public bodies run by the state.
The fact that they are forbidden is not affected by giving them other names such as
“certificates”, “investment documents” or “savings”, or
calling the interest “profit”, “commission” or “returns”.

Also forbidden are bonds that offer prizes, because these are loans made
on the condition that the benefits or increase will go to the group loaning the money, or
to one of them, who is not specified at the time of investment, in addition to the fact
that this is based on the idea of gambling.

Another kind of forbidden bonds, which it is haraam to buy, sell or
handle, is bonds or documents based on bidding for a specific project or activity from
which the owners will not benefit in any definite way, but will only receive a share of
the profits according to the number of bonds or documents that they own, and they will
only receive this profit if the project is actually carried out.